Congregation

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for stopping by and checking out the site.

I'm currently in the process of getting everything together for the site so I can launch this thing sometime in August (hopefully) around the preseason of the 2010 NFL season. In the meantime, I'll be doing the odd writing/article and writing in Deacon's Diary and The Book, and keeping everyone up to date with the important things that are going on in the NFL and the rest of the sports world from time to time.

The Congregation will be the most up-to-date page on the website, which will serve primarily as a quick-hit page for news, links, and updates.

Take a look around and enjoy.

- Deacon Touchback

Week 2 Preachment

Another week past in the NFL, and another week to scratch our heads. There have been a lot of injuries and quarterback shuffling in the first two weeks of the season, which means a good handful of teams will enter Week 3 with a different look. But before we dive into the third week of the season, a quick look back at Week 2.

- Green Bay covering the spread might have been the easiest bet of the week. (Ok fine, San Diego and  Atlanta covering were pretty easy too) But who would have imagined that a Week 3 clash between the Packers and the Bears on Monday Night Football would be for the lead in the NFC North? I’m baffled.

-Speaking of the Bears, I’d personally like to thank the Cowboys for being so arrogant that following the Dez Bryant punt return for a touchdown, they decided to follow it up with a sneaky attempt at an onside kick. The result: Great field position for the Bears leading to the quick touchdown from Jay Cutler to Greg Olsen. It’s amazing how a turnover in football can swing a game’s momentum, but it seems that nobody ever talks about boneheaded coaching decisions in the same way. The Cowboys got a huge shift from Bryant, but then gave it right back to the Bears and could never seem to really take it back the rest of the game.

- On the subject of overrated teams that are now 0-2, how about those Vikings? The only way that this week could have gotten any better for me was if the Manning Bowl ended in a tie or something. Alas, I’ll have to settle for the Vikings at the bottom of the division with the Lions. It’s amazing how quickly they abandon the run game. I honestly don’t care if that means giving Adrian Peterson the ball 30+ times a game. Give your best player the ball, and if you’re worried about the number of touches you’re going to get him, go and get a proven # 2 guy to take touches and punish defenses in the run game. Someone like, I don’t know, Ladell Betts? Yeah, that same guy that the Saints just scooped up in free agency with the injury to Reggie Bush. No, instead they go and sign Hank Baskett because “Brett Favre needs weapons.” Yeah, Hank Baskett is the answer…This team is just a bunch of idiots.

- The Chiefs are 2-0. Um, Wow.

- Derek Anderson on the road. What did I say?

- I honestly had no idea that Matt Moore was going to play himself out of a job that quickly, but here we are entering the Jimmy Clausen era as early as Week 3. Teams will still employ the not-so-secret-formula to beat the Panthers: Load up the box against the run and make their quarterback beat us. So far, so good.

- Team that busted the most tickets this week by covering the spread? I think it has to be the Lions. I thought that they were going to be one of those teams that we would have to try and figure out until later in the year to start taking to cover spreads in games, but it’s really tough to discount what their offense has begun to accomplish with the pieces it has. But the biggest story has to be the recent news that Michael Vick aka Ron Mexico will start again this week at Jacksonville instead of Kevin Kolb. Let the circus around the Eagles begin…

- What a huge win at home for Who Dey. The Bengals have now won 7 in a row against AFC North opponents, and really needed that game since Pittsburgh keeps winning despite not having Ben Roethlisberger.

- Which is a nice segue into the Pittsburgh Steelers still getting it done with backup quarterbacks. There has been so much attention on Ben Roethlisberger and the offense of the Steelers without him, that it is almost like people forgot about how good that defense is. They are relentless. Not only did they win the game, but they held Chris Johnson to 34 yards rushing, and 53 total yards. There are not too many teams in this league that can say they have the capability of doing that, especially in Tennessee.

- Seattle sucks, but on the bright side, they still are in a tie atop the NFC West with the Cardinals at 1-1. Is it possible that whoever wins that division is 8-8? 7-9?

- It wasn’t pretty, but the Raiders won another close one. Following the trend of taking out ineffective starting quarterbacks throughout the day, Jason Campbell was replaced by Bruce Gradkowski who led the Raiders to their only touchdown drive of the game, which was good enough in the end to squeeze out a win at home. Sam Bradford continues to show promise for the Rams, but there’s still not enough on that team to bring them out of the NFL’s basement.

- Game of the Day? Texans/Redskins hands down. What a comeback for Houston. When the two quarterbacks in a game combine for over 900 yards of passing, you know it’s a good game. As I type this, in the background I’m listening to NFL Replay on the NFL Network, and the turning point of the game is coming up right now: The blocked field goal. If the Redskins make that field goal, it’s pretty much game over, but as they’ve recently shown, the Texans’ offense can score with the best of them. After that missed field goal, and after McNabb missed Joey Galloway on that homerun toss that would have sealed the game, you knew the Texans comeback was coming…Side note, tell me that Andre Johnson is not the best WR in the NFL right now. You can’t do it, can you?

- One of this week’s biggest surprises is what Mark Sanchez was able to do when his coaches actually let him throw the ball. What the Jets’ fans will say is “SEE! See what we can be if we throw more!!” Well, I’m not sold because the Patriots defense is nothing to write home about. Oh, and Braylon Edwards decided to party like Joe Namath and then get behind the wheel. Real smooth Braylon…Notable injuries from this game: Darelle Revis left the game with an injured ego after getting dusted by Randy Moss on that one-handed touchdown grab. He seemed fine to me up until that point because Moss wasn’t doing anything, but as soon as Moss got the best of him, he pulled up with the hamstring. And if you think I’m crazy, just think about who they play next week and tell me that he wouldn’t mind sitting out the game he’s assigned to cover another beast: Brandon Marshall.

- The Jaguars suck. There’s not much else to say. There would be a quarterback controversy in Jacksonville if there was an actual backup that might be able to go in the game and do something. Unfortunately, there isn’t.

- Older brother is still the better QB, and little brother keeps getting those big-brother beatings. It’s not like my fantasy football matchup with my brother this week, which had the opposite result. Now he has to wait until Week 11 at revenge, and I get to talk smack for the next 8 weeks. These are the good weeks when it comes to fantasy football. They are few and far between, so you have to cherish them like Billy Madison says here.

- Who knew the 49ers would make it a game in the 4th quarter? It just goes to show that anything can happen on Monday Night Football, and it shows that there’s another guy on the ‘Quarterbacks-you-don’t-want-to-leave-too-much-time-on-the-clock’ list. Hopefully San Francisco can use a few of the things from this game and move forward and turn their season around, but the Saints continue to roll in the regular season and are not ready to give up their status as the best in the NFL.

- Happy trails to the quarterbacks who have lost their jobs, and those players who sustained injuries that will keep them sidelined for the foreseeable future: Matt Moore (crap), Jason Campbell (diddo), Kevin Kolb (Mexico, Ron), Trent Edwards (crap), Michael Turner (groin), Reggie Bush (leg), Kevin Faulk (ACL), Jerious Norwood (ACL).

- And finally, on a serious note, I would like to send out condolences, thoughts and prayers out to the family of Broncos WR Kenny McKinley, who is believed to have taken his own life with a gunshot to the head. It’s a very saddening and tragic moment for the NFL, the Denver Broncos, and most importantly, the friends and family of Kenny McKinley.

Week 1 Preachment

It was a great kickoff to the NFL Season this weekend, and it was packed with a few surprises, shocks, and a dash of the season-ending injury bug. A few observations from Week 1:

-Did Minnesota forget to run the ball in the second half against New Orleans on Thursday, or was that just my imagination? The Vikings were running the ball effectively until they decided to shut it down and open up their legs to the penetration of the New Orleans run game. However, the best story of this game had to be the missed PAT by Ryan Longwell. Does anyone know what the spread for the game was?? Saints -4.5. Final score: Saints 14 Vikings 9. Vegas took a little bit of a jab there.

- The Bucs found a nice Week 1 win at home against the Browns this weekend, but that second half of offensive ineptitude was painful to watch. The Browns are going to learn very fast that letting Jake Delhomme throw the ball 37 times in one game is not a very good recipe for success. What was even more baffling was that they still employed this strategy when they were winning the game. I'm all for aggressive play-calling, but not when your depending on the arm of Jake Delhomme.

- There was another barn burner out in Buffalo this weekend, I just don't think that anyone was watching. Did anyone else's Pro Line bet on the Dolphins get saved because of that safety in the 4th quarter? That's pretty much the only thought that crossed my mind about that game.

- So I think Wes Welker looks pretty fine to me after going 8 for 62 with 2 TDs against the Bengals. There were a couple nice fantasy football days from a few players in this game, but in terms of the real game, the scoreline was probably a little flattering to the Bengals because this game was over in the first half. Things don't get much easier for 'Who Dey' when they host the Ravens this week.

- How do you convince a league that you're ready to finally take the next step as a team? You do what the Texans did to the Colts on Sunday. Arian Foster and the Houston run game exposed a weakness in the Colts more devastating than the one in the Death Star. That being said, it's just one week, so I'm not exactly about to turn the AFC South galaxy over to the Texans just yet.

- Jacksonville and Denver both suck. I was telling people that despite how crappy Jacksonville is, this is probably one of the few games that I could see them winning. But if you're a Jags fan, enjoy it while it lasts because it's not going to happen very often this year. Oh, and congrats Denver fan. You've just traded for Lawrence Maroney. Enjoy.

- Welcome to the NFL Season Oakland! How did Chris Johnson taste? Easiest pick of the week by a Tennessee mile.

- Remember when I said Hakeem Nicks was a stud in the making? Not a bad start for the second-year wideout from North Carolina against the Panthers this weekend with 3 TDs. But it was hard for the Panthers to keep pace with the Giants after Matt Moore went down with that injury. Oh wait, that wasn't an injury. Matt Moore just sucks.

- Look, I don't want to hear it about the Calvin Johnson catch in the endzone that got called back. Jim Rome said it best: It was a good call for a bad rule. Trust me, I could have cared less if the Bears lost this game. All this means is that in the end, the Bears might have a slightly lower draft pick next year. But I dont like losing to division rivals anyways, so f*ck you Detroit. F*ck you.

- Speaking of Pro Line wins/losses this week, how many people's tickets got ripped up after Rashard Mendenhall scampered to the house to end the game in OT against the Falcons? I know mine did. I should have remembered a few things when I picked Atlanta this past week: Matt Ryan hasn't proven to be anything special when playing against elite defenses, Pittsburgh is still one of those elite defenses, and the Steelers still have that guy named Polamalu and play completely different when he's in the lineup. Matty Ice, what were you thinking exactly when you threw that ball on your final drive in the 4th quarter?

- Welcome to the NFL Sam Bradford, here's the football. Now go out there and toss it 55 times. How's the shoulder feeling? All kidding aside, he definitely outplayed Derek Anderson, who continues to convince the world that he sucks. Lucky for him, he managed to find Larry Fitzgerald open in the back corener of the endzone on one play, and that pretty much sealed the game. I've already written way too many words about this game so I'm stopping here.

- My sincerest apologies to all Ryan Grant owners this week. Surely, Brandon Jackson will be the #1 waiver claim in fantasy leagues this week, and I'll be happy to sit back and watch people attempt to replace a medicore running back with another one.

- Quarterback controversy anyone? Just kidding folks. Besides, Andy Reid came out and said that Kevin Kolb is the #1 quarterback, and that's the end of the story, so there's no controversy going on. While I think this is the case for the first part of the season, this is the guy who also said they would never trade Donovan McNabb. Kolb still hasn't passed the concussion tests yet to be cleared for practice either. Stay tuned.

- Does anyone else hope that the NFL Network has cameras to see what Mike Singletary has in store for his team at practice this week after that debacle at Seattle? I'm pretty sure someone is going to get beat down with that stopwatch or something. Possibly Alex Smith? Crabtree? Please do this NFL Network. Please.

- So I guess it's time to hit the panic button in Big D after all huh? There's not really much to be said that isn't already being said in the media. It does bring up the question of who is responsible for that dumbass decision before half. Is that something we put on the Offensive Coordinator, or the Head Coach? It also makes you think: If I had to choose between Brad Childress and Wade Phillips to be my Head Coach, who would I pick? I think I'd sell my team.

- How many passengers got off at the Week 1 stop from the New York Jets train this week? I'd really prefer to not have to hear the Jets and the Superbowl mentioned together in the same sentence from this point on. The defence looked fantastic, but the offense looked terrible. I know that the Ravens are no pushover on defense and that played a large part in their struggles, but you can't win games when your quarterback throws for 74 yards. The difference in this game was simple: One quarterback made plays, the other one didn't. Oh, and Ray Lewis is scary.

- It's games like San Diego/Kansas City that remind us that we really know nothing when it comes to the NFL. At first you see the Bolts jump out to a lead with a TD to Antonio Gates, then start to wonder what the heck Todd Haley is doing by not putting in Jamaal Charles for the first few series of the game, then Charles comes in and rips off a 56 yard TD run, Matt Cassel manages to hit a target in the passing game (in the endzone no less!), and Dexter McCluster returns a punt 94 yards for a touchdown looking like Devin Hester circa 2006. Then it's halftime and you're thinking to yourself, "San Diego is a good second half bet." An uneventful second half follows and then the Chiefs manage a goal-line stand to win the game in the final seconds and you remember: you really know nothing when it comes to the NFL. Welcome to Monday Night Football.

- The Congregation would also like to send their condolences to Ryan Grant who will be out for the remainder of this season after being placed on Injured Reserve with a torn ACL, and Jets DT Kris Jenkins who will also be placed on season-ending Injured Reserve with a torn ACL for the second straight season. This could signal the end of a career for Jenkins, and while we hope that won't be the case, happy trails Mr. Jenkins.